Promoting your business on the Web

Once you have your own website, you want everyone in the world to know so they can come and take a look. So how can you ensure they find you, especially if your marketing resources are limited?

This guide is designed to help you plan and carry out promotions for your website. It also examines key topics of concern such as online legality and security that you may not have dealt with before.

Your marketing plan

The promotion of your site should be part of your overall marketing plan, in the same way that your overall Internet plans should be integrated into your company strategy. Don’t be tempted to deviate from a marketing strategy that you know works for your product, simply because you now have an online facility. Integrate your new service into your traditional advertising and promotions.

If a certain type of person or special interest group always buys your product, this is unlikely to be changed by a Web presence (with the possible exception of attracting overseas customers). What is likely to happen is that you will attract more business from more of your current target market because you have made purchasing simpler. This is particularly true if you have little competition on the Web.

What a website can give you is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your clients. Think about creating a client database from the information that you collect online (see Legal Issues section below). Let your customers use your site to email enquiries directly to you and consider keeping in regular contact with them via email, to update them on your product or business news.

Your site can be a cost-effective way of gaining new customer information. You can encourage your site’s visitors to complete online questionnaires about their product or site requirements or even consider placing a poll on your site to answer very specific questions.

Promoting your site offline

You shouldn’t miss any opportunity to draw attention to your website. The techniques you use do not have to be expensive and might include:

• Incorporating your website address into all of your printed material. This could include all advertising or marketing copy, your letterheads, your business cards, your email signatures and even the company van if it carries your name.
• Making sure all employees (including the technologically challenged) are familiar with your URL and what’s available for your customers on the site. Encourage them to refer to your Web presence regularly.
• Opportunities for coverage in the press. Your local or trade press may well be interested in any innovations available through your site.
• Direct mail to customers whose details have been collected from your site and your offline activities. You can inform potential customers about significant changes to your site, such as the launch of a new product that is available online. This can be inexpensive and highly effective (see Legal Issues).

Generally speaking, the more channels you use to promote your site the more likely you are to increase awareness of it. Don’t forget that converting offline customers to online ones can very often save you time and money because the automated structure of a website can cut down on the costs involved with one-to-one interaction.

Promoting your site on the web

Tips on inexpensive and effective online site marketing:

Register your site with Google and other search engines by visiting their websites or by paying an agency to do it for you. Send your details to online directories (e.g. Yahoo) and regional directory sites (e.g.  the Federation of Small Businesses online directory).

Ideally you want your web address to appear high on the list of sites found when a search engine is answering an enquiry relevant to your business. Your positioning in the ranking can be optimised by strategic use of keywords. Your ISP (Internet service provider) or your Web developer can help with this.

Register more than one domain name (a name that identifies your entire Internet site) for your site. They cost very little and can all point to the same site. Many people will guess at your URL (a site’s unique web address) so buy all the obvious options – even those that are badly spelt!

Post messages about your site in relevant newsgroups and web forums. The key word here is relevant – or you may receive some angry emails. Blatant advertising is also often frowned upon (and regularly purged) but if you are able to offer help and advice you may be rewarded with site visits from grateful recipients.

Create mutual links by tracking down as many relevant interest-group sites as possible, and exchange a link on their site by providing one for them on yours. The best sites are often those of any industry or trade body you belong to – most have a section that lists their members and provides links to their sites.

Reciprocal adverts are one step up from links. They can be particularly useful on sites offering complementary services to your own (e.g. travel insurance ads on a holiday site). Adverts on websites are usually in the shape of small banners and link through to the site being advertised, so the image should be consistent with the design of your site.

Getting visitors to return

The key way to drive ‘repeat traffic’ (i.e. to persuade users to return to your site) is constantly to add new content and to keep the information there up to date. This may sound obvious, but a common mistake is to let websites become stale very quickly. Your maintenance should include checking that all of your hyperlinks remain in working order and are pointing to the right information.

The same company that hosts your site will be able to analyse your visitor traffic for you. You can learn a lot about why someone visited you in the first place and this can help you to lure them back. The analysis should include where someone entered your site and where they left it. If a particular section of your site attracts the most visitors, you may consider expanding it to give repeat visitors a reason to return.

Prompt response to any feedback or queries received from the site encourages visitors to interact. They will be made to feel that their views are being recognised and that their custom is valued. This will motivate them to return.

Legal issues

Regulation of the Internet falls into two categories:

• Established laws whose rules can be applied to online activities.
• New laws specifically created to address Internet issues.

The laws most likely to affect your online activities include:

The Data Protection Act 1998 protects personal data online by forcing companies who collect, store or process personal information to notify the Data Protection Controller. The new law has eight legally enforceable ‘data protection principles’ (for the exact wording, go to http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/80029--l.htm#sch1). These say that information must be:

1. fairly and lawfully processed,
2. processed for limited purposes,
3. adequate, relevant and not excessive,
4. accurate and up to date,
5. not kept longer than necessary,
6. processed in accordance with the individual’s rights,
7. secure,
8. not transferred to countries outside European Economic area unless the country has adequate protection for the individual.

The Data Protection Act 1998 does not only seek to protect the privacy of personal data but also to regulate how that data is used. As such, you must only use the data for the purpose for which it was collected. You may want to consider seeking further advice if you plan to send promotional emails to your customers without seeking their permission first.

One way many companies trading online can ensure they are fulfilling the Data Protection Act 1998’s requirements is to publish a privacy policy on their site. A typical policy will include:

• What categories of information you are collecting (e.g. name, email address, telephone numbers).
• Why you want the information (e.g. for invoicing, delivery or marketing).
• The way you will (and will not) use the information (e.g. to share information with contractors, not to sell to third parties).
• The security measures you are taking to protect their data.
• Your customers’ rights (e.g. to correct data).
• Your company’s contact details.

The EU Distance Selling Directive specifies that, prior to the conclusion of any contract where a buyer and seller do not come face to face, the buyer should be provided with certain information. This includes the identity and postal address of the supplier, a description of the main characteristics of the goods and services, the price of goods including all taxes, and the existence of a right to cancel.

Legal hints and tips

• Give one person in your business responsibility for complying with the legal requirements of having a website.
• Don’t start trading online without seeking legal advice about your terms and conditions.
• Ensure your terms and conditions are prominently displayed on your site.
• Balance your site’s legal protection with commercial viabilities.
• Remember that e-commerce is just like any other form of commercial activity and is largely bound by the same regulations and legal principles.

International Trading

The laws that govern the Internet are not international and you must at least abide by the laws of the country where your registered office is. You should also consider taking advice regarding any conflicting laws with other jurisdictions if a lot of your business comes from abroad. You may need to regulate access to your site or run site disclaimers, which reduce the risk of legal liability by defining your intended audience.

Security

There are two main issues regarding the security of your site. The first is protecting your customers’ data, particularly if they are transacting on your site, and the second is convincing your visitors that their data is secure.

Internet security is the protection of your data from theft, loss and unauthorised access or modification. Many large companies employ full-time security experts at great cost (which is obviously not a viable option for most small businesses). Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of security threats do not come from hackers or malicious viruses but from within your own organisation. Careless or disgruntled members of staff are often the ones who cause the most damage.

Protecting your customers

Consumers’ security concerns remain one of the most critical barriers to e-commerce success and cannot be avoided by any company with designs on creating a successful online retailing presence.

Ensure that a customer is transferred to a secure site before they hand over any personal financial details such as their credit card number. The majority of Internet payments are made using SSL (secure sockets layer) technology that will encrypt (the process of encoding data to prevent unauthorised parties from viewing or modifying it) personal information when it is in transit. Your Web developer should be able to organise this for you.

Protecting your database

You need to draw up a security policy that denies database access to everyone – then grant it to necessary individuals on a specific basis. Passwords should be used to authenticate users for access. You should change passwords regularly and make them at least six characters in length. Those containing a mixture of numbers and letters are more secure. And they should never be written down.

When someone leaves your employ it is crucial that you change all of your passwords, to ensure they can no longer access any of your systems – immediately! Other measures you can take include:

Backing up all of your data on a regular basis so you can quickly replace it if it is lost or stolen. 

• Installing a firewall. This is a software device that separates a personal computer from the Internet and inspects outgoing and incoming data to determine if it should be allowed to pass. They are relatively easy to install and operate and you can set your own entry and exit rules. It’s a bit like having a computer bouncer!
• Installing anti-virus software. It is readily available and affordable and most vendors make updates available on their sites.

Getting your customers to trust you

It isn’t enough just to make your customers’ details safe – you have to make sure that they know their details are safe. Don’t rely on a client to assume that they have been transferred to a secure server, tell them that they have.

Many large sites build customer trust with a comprehensive privacy policy that can be accessed from anywhere within the site.

Prompt acknowledgement of queries or orders will help reassure customers that they are dealing with an efficient, professional organisation.